


Street Rats

by LadyParabellum



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Original Character(s), POV Original Character
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-30
Updated: 2020-08-30
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:09:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,506
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26190934
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyParabellum/pseuds/LadyParabellum
Summary: Rei may be the only person in Republic City who hates pro-bending, but she has a good reason. She is the child of the Sakamoto family, a famous pro-bending family in Republic City. Her parents gave birth to a fire bender, earth bender, and adopted a water bender to round out the perfect set. The reporters always seem to forget the fourth child in their glowing profiles on the family. To be delicate, not bending was never an option for members of the Sakamoto family. Choosing between an abusive household and homelessness in Republic City, Rei left home at a young age. However, things are changing on the streets of Republic City. Non-benders are sick of being taken advantage of and promises of a new world order are being whispered.
Kudos: 1





	Street Rats

There are two speeds on the streets of Republic City. There are those who are quick, moving with purpose. These people know where they are going, where they want to be - and the streets are not where they want to be. To these people, the streets are an in-between place. A means to a destination and nothing more. Perhaps a noodle stand or fire flake vendor can convince them to stand still long enough for a quick snack. Otherwise they keep their head down and their feet moving until they reach whatever porch steps offers them solace. And then, there are those of us who speak the languid language of loitering. We have nowhere to go and nowhere to be. No meetings to attend, no consistent jobs to get to, and most importantly no house to call home. 

A group of kids playing kick ball yelled to one another as the ball went flying between their skinny feet. I recognized most of the kids. Some of the kids belonged to families who lived above store fronts down the street. Some came outside for a game. Others played ball to get away from violent parents for an hour or two. Just one of their number, Kyo, didn’t have a place to go home to at all. As I approached the kids, Kyo saw me and turned away from the game to wave. In that moment, one of the younger kids stomped the ground next to the ball sending a brick up and the ball flying over Kyo’s head. The rules of kick ball were convoluted and changed from block to block, but it was obvious as I approached them, the boy had done something wrong. 

“It’s not Sai’s fault! He was just trying really hard.” Kyo yelled, getting in between the little earth bender and an angry looking older boy. 

“It’s no bending and we all agreed.” The boy retorted. He moved towards the boy, brushing past Kyo. 

“When I try really hard, I can do this.” Kyo moved past the boy, charged the ball and sent it flying across the street with a kick. “When he tries really hard, he can do that.” She stomped her foot on the broken pavement for emphasis. 

“Hey Saichi, your girlfriend is trying to defend you even though we all know your earth bending is bad and your kick ball skills are worse.”

“Kyo, dinner time. Let’s go.” I grabbed Kyo who looked as if she could bend any element so long as it hit that kid in the face. Somewhere behind us, a deep chested woman was yelling at the kids to go home. “If I knew you picked so many fights, I would have insisted you joined us at the last chi-blocking class.” 

“I don’t want to learn chi-blocking. I want to learn pro bending.” 

The sun was quickly setting, sending long shadows across the road. It was easy to discern a regular night from a pro-bending night. Where streets normally emptied and the triads emerged, people filled the sidewalks and rooftops huddled around their radios. Clusters of people exited restaurants and a steady flow of foot traffic pulled us towards the arena. 

“Rei,” Kyo pulled on my hand, “will you take me to the match tonight? Please, please, please.” 

I knew that look. After all she had used it on countless street vendors, grocers, and neighborhood kids. No one could say no to those warm brown eyes, slightly down turned lips. Even the triads were known to donate a meal or some change to the cause that is Kyo’s every whim. 

“Doesn’t Shani usually take you to the matches?” 

Kyo crossed her arms, still pouting. “Shani didn’t come. She said she would come and get me before the match, but she didn’t.” 

“She’s probably still working. She has that really important job at the clinic.” 

“So what? We always go together. Always. Please take me. Just get me in, you don’t have to stay.”

She clasped my hands again, bringing us to a halt on the sidewalk. At her touch I realized how clammy my hands were, even with the humid air. Standing still felt wrong. My heart jumped beneath my chest. I took one steadying breath. It was only a game after all. “Fine.” I conceded. 

“Yay!” She jumped forwards, pulling me by the hand. “We’ll have fun. You’ll see.”  
I could see the glow of the pro bending arena ahead. It was as bright as the sun and seemed to pull the entire city towards it like a tide during the full moon. When was the last time I stepped foot in that monstrosity? 

_“Your father and I won’t be more than an hour. You kids entertain yourselves in here for a while. Get some practice in.”_

The entrance was smaller than I remembered: quaint double doors facing the city through which a few overzealous fans looking to catch the warmups trickled. The majority of the crowd loitered talking loudly and purchasing colorful flags, fans, and noise makers from vendors. One of the team flags caught my eye, the Republic City Raven Rats. They were one of the oldest team in the league. The children of two of the original members now starred on the team. Were they playing tonight?

_We were in the empty gym. Disks of earth were stacked in columns and barrels of water were littered around the room. Why did mother leave us here? Why couldn’t we wait outside? Fear lassoed my stomach as my three siblings turned to me. Someone had suggested, “two on two.” And they were fighting amongst themselves. “She’s your twin.” “That’s not fair, I always end up with her.” I hated the bickering, but bickering was better than dodging projectiles. “Can’t we just leave her out of it? She can’t bend and we already have a full team.” My stomach loosened but I tried to mask any hint of relief. Takumi was always the nicest. “Takumi, don’t let mother and father hear you say that.” “Fine, Takumi. She can be on your team then.” Without warning rock and fire flew._

Kyo and I came to a halt on side of the building. Just out of sight of the crowds, a grate opened up in the floor and lead beneath the building. The grate opened silently and without force. A number of street children used this entrance and kept the hinges greased and quiet. It was a miracle that the entrance hadn’t been discovered. Knowing how treasured these bending matches were to Kyo, Shani, and a handful of others, keeping this secret safe was a top priority. We emerged into a silent corridor. Following Kyo, we crept through the halls and upstairs until we were in the top rows of seating. Except for the final, these rows were generally empty. Here we could barely discern one player from another as they walked on stage and took their positions.

“The blue side over there is the Elephant Elks and the red side by us is the Raven Rats. The Elephant Elks are really good. I think they made it into the championship last year. But the Raven Rats are great too. They’re probably the favorite because they’re like Republic City royalty. Their parents were the original members of the team and they won almost every year. Can you believe they had three kids of all three bending styles? It’s amazing. It’s like bending is in the family.” 

Bending wasn’t in the family. I was proof of that enough. Looking down on my siblings, I couldn’t pick out many physical characteristics. All three of them were tall and muscular, even next to the other pro-bending team. The bell chimed and they spontaneously moved into action. All three, on the offensive, sent rock, water, and fire at the other team. The rock sent by Suzu went high, knocking their opponent right in the chest. He staggered, a jet of water colliding with his trunk causing him to fall to his knee. 

“The Republic City Raven Rats are taking no prisoners tonight folks.” The commentator announced in a cheery voice. 

I knew that move too well. A shot to the chest. Bring the hands up to protect the head and face. A shot to the exposed abdomen. Now you’re off balance and unprotected. Last came a jet of water, usually not as painful but just as humiliating. Takumi always held back, more so when we were younger. He was adopted into the family from the Northern Water Tribe after his parents died on the crossing to Republic City. My parents always wanted a full team, and without water bending blood, they knew they had to adopt. Before Takumi fell into their laps, they were planning a trip to the Northern Water Tribe’s orphanage. After he settled into the house, the real training began. 

“And the Elephant Elk’s last member is teetering on the edge of the arena. Can she stay in long enough to-” The horn blared. “And they hang in for another round! As a reminder the Elephant Elks need to win two in a row in order to beat out tonight’s favorites the Raven Rats.” 

“Want some fire flakes?” I asked Kyo who looked as if she was floating an inch above the bench in anticipation. 

“Huh? Oh, yeah that would be cool. Are you sure we can?” She was hesitant in getting her hopes up. I could see the restraint behind her young eyes. 

“Yes, we can. I scrounged up a good amount today.” 

“Yes!” She bounced lightly, grinning, before turning back to the start of the next round. 

I wasn’t precisely sure where the food was, but it had to be below us. I started downstairs, my hands unclenching for the first time since I stepped foot in this arena. My nails, dull but ragged, had dug into the palms of my hands and left little pale half-moons. They didn’t hurt, but they itched which was more irritating. Scratching at my palms and trying not to breathe the smell of gym and dust, I quickly realized I had taken a wrong turn. The hallways were eerily quiet; the cheering crowds, now a dull roar. There was a grunting sound followed by thumps ahead. The noise was coming from, if I remembered correctly, the practice gym. 

Clean-up was always my favorite part of bending class – that is when my parents still sent me to public bending class. All the students were required to help move rocks and practice disks back into their proper place, no matter the bending ability. I would grab the largest stack of disks I could handle and hobble them over to the stacks. The kids usually laughed at me. They had come to believe, through my sister, that I was deficient in the head. 

A young earth bender was moving large piles of practice disks across the gym. I stopped to watch for a moment despite myself. There was something satisfying to watch the disks move into their proper columns. The orderliness and silence once they were in their proper places. It was peaceful, and it meant bending was done for the day. 

“Food is back the way you came, all the way down the hall and to the left. The stands are the same but to the right.” The boy said without turning around. 

“Sorry, I’m not really lost. I just always liked the cleaning up.” I said, feeling dumb and caught out. 

He turned around, the look of recognition on his face. “Rei? It’s me Bolin.” 

He had grown but so had I. “Wow, you look so-”

“Big? Buff? Handsome? I suppose you know Mako and I are pro-benders now.” I knew that intonation. It was the one he would use around Shani when we were younger, but deeper, softer, and a whole lot more effective. 

“I actually don’t normally watch.” 

“Oh. Of course. I know what with you parents and crazy siblings.” Catching himself, he continued, “I mean, what brings you here tonight. I’d’of thought you wouldn’t come here. Mako!”

“Come on Bolin,” I jumped at the voice just over my right shoulder. “We should get some sleep before the game tomorrow night.” 

“Mako look who it is.”

“Is it one of your fan girls from the other night? Because I really don’t have the energy. No offense.” He looked down at me, as if to take a measure of my potential crazy. 

“Don’t you recognize her? It’s Rei. Our Rei.”

Slowly, so slow I could watch as skepticism turned to recognition, he realized who he was looking at. To be fair, he had grown up quite a bit too. He stood taller than me now, something I teased him over relentlessly as kids. 

“How are you… Why are you here?” 

Distantly, I could hear a horn blow signaling the end of the match. Somewhere in a dark corner of my heart, I wished my siblings had lost. 

“She’s here with a friend.” Bolin interjected, wrapping an arm around my shoulders and steering me out of the gym. “You have to come see our place. It’s like a palace. We have our own beds and a stove and everything.” 

Feeling as if the air had left the corridor, I pulled out of Bolin’s grasp. “I can’t, I have to get Kyo home safe.” 

“Did you see the look on the water bender’s face when she saw the combo coming.” A new voice echoed down the corridor and then laughter. 

“Honestly Suzu, I can’t wait until the championship. At least then the games will be interesting.”

Their shadows preceded them, and I wished I hadn’t pulled away from Bolin. Alone and small and unable to breathe, I was a sitting, hyperventilating turtle duck. 

They stopped when they saw us. “Fire Ferrets, is it? Did you catch our match out there? I hope you were taking notes.” Sachi, the eldest and the fire bender of the Raven Rats said. I remembered her most fondly for her love of head shots and penchant for burning off eyebrows and eyelashes. 

“For the record, we would love to see you make it through. We do love it when they’re scrappy.” Suzu, their earth bender and my twin sneered. It wasn’t a good look on her, though to be fair, not much was. 

They continued towards us, the space between closing. My feet were glued to the floor. I couldn’t move if I wanted to. 

Suzu noticed me first. “Sissy, are you playing for the Fire Ferrets? Or do you just enjoy keeping bad company.” 

“Bad company?” Bolin stepped up beside me. “The only bad company here is you. Not that we would consider you company. At all. But still.”

They laughed. 

“Well, it’s good to see you sis. Glad you caught our game. Any luck with the bending? Or are you still dodging and weaving like a coward?” 

They passed us by, not bothering to slow their gait. Takumi, his eyes downcast, didn’t say a word. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for checking out my story. I hope you enjoyed it! This is my first post on AO3 so please let me know if my formatting etc is off. I would love to know what you think!  
> xx LP


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